Re-upload: Now and Forever
by Czar Joseph
Summary: Narutolover29 Informed me about the user Asahi Gingetsu delete his original story. So I re-upload this: Days after the battle with Cedric, Will received a vision from the young boy. Watch as she wants to reunited her lover. So Will be experience to learned be a Kunoichi like Naruto as a Ninja. Please Review
1. Chapter 1: Familiar Faces

Normal Grammer

"Normal Talking"

_'Thought/Mink-link'_

Chapter 1: Familiar Faces

**==Unknown==**

Will felt herself floating in a vast expanse of white. _'What was even more interesting was This must be another dream,'_ she thought.

A presence behind her snapped her back to reality. She had just enough time to register the shadowy outline of a figure before launching a lightning bolt towards it.

"Whoa, easy there Will. Jeez, who knew you were this violent."

Will froze. That voice, she thought. The figure came into view, and Will saw it. The spiky blond hair, the amused expression on his face. The three whisker mark on each cheek. "Naruto!"

Naruto oomphed as he was tackled by a flying hug. He smiled and hugged the girl back. "Enthusiastic aren't you? Oh yeah, and what's with the wings, and since when were you able to shoot lightning bolts?"

Will broke away. She was suddenly conscious of what she was wearing and the fact that she was flying. "Uh, yeah about that…."

"I can't say I'm happy that you are risking your life for no good reason, but I guess I can't say you were the only one." Naruto's gaze wandered downwards and Will followed it. That was when she really saw him.

He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with matching pants. The ends were tied together with white bandages. Over his shirt was a green flak jacket. This followed by was a short-sleeved long white coat that swept down to his ankles. The hem was decorated by red flames. His forehead carried a long black bandana-like piece of cloth with a metal plate in the centre. On his back was an ornately carved katana. But most striking of all were his eyes. Naruto's old eyes were a piercing sapphire blue. These were a duller blue without a pupil. Instead it was made up of six concentric rings.

"Naruto, what happened to your eyes?"

Naruto sighed. "Long story, longer explanation," he replied, much to Will's ire and confusion. "But that doesn't matter; the important thing is that…." Naruto's form suddenly flickered for a moment before reappearing. "Blast, looks like I don't have much time left."

"Naruto, what's going on, where are you…."

"Sorry Will, I don't have much time left. Before that can I'd like to give you something."

Will could barely reply before she felt Naruto's lips press gently on hers. Will's eyes slid close as she felt her arms move of their own accord, wrapping around his neck. She didn't care, as she felt herself immerse in pure happiness. Finally Naruto pulled away. "I've been waiting years to do that again. Will, I…." Naruto's form suddenly flickered once and vanished.

"Wait," Will reached out, "please don't go."

Will bolted upright in her bed gasping. _'There's no way that could've been a dream,'_ she thought. _'So what was going on?'_

Will quickly shot out of bed. _'I have to go find Yan Lin.'_

**==Later==**

Hay Lin groggily opened the door to find her frantic friend. "Will? It's like one in the morning."

"Sorry, but I have to speak to your grandmother. Is she awake?"

"Is now." Hay Lin turned to see her grandmother. "Who could sleep through all that racket?"

"I'm so glad you're awake," Will said. "There is something I really need to talk to you about alone."

**==Later==**

"I'm sure it wasn't a dream," Will told her after all the events. "It felt too real. It was like he was really talking to me."

"Hmmm," Yan Lin rubbed her chin. "Don't know. We'll have to go to Kandrakar to find out."

"Can we leave as soon as possible?" Will asked. "This is important."

**==Hidden Leaf Village==**

A twelve year old Naruto snapped out of meditation. 'Damn, can't believe that actually worked. He looked at the clock on his bedside. Six AM, well better get ready to meet the brats I'm getting assigned.' Naruto was tall for his age. His early shinobi career as well as his status as a jinchūriki has enhanced his physical aspects. Despite being twelve, he looked more around fourteen or fifteen.

Naruto sighed and got dressed. First a black version of the standard Leaf shinobi uniform with the ends tied up with bandages, then the chūnin vest over it. On his arms and legs were black combat boots, bracers and fingerless metal backed gloves from his time in ANBU. Finally, he donned the black Leaf headband along with a long white coat with red flame designs etched along the hems. Over his back he slung a blade of pure white silver.

Naruto he looked to the right of his master bedroom inside the Namikaze Mansion. There on the table was a picture of him and Will two years ago, when he was accidentally stranded in her dimension. Naruto picked the picture up and stroked the face of Will.

Finally he sighed and set down the picture, and pulled out a note of who he was to be assigned. He read through it and raised an eyebrow. _'Well, well, The Hyūga heir, Itachi's brat, as well as the Nara's future clan head. This'll be interesting.' He quickly pocketed the note. Might as well get going, he thought to himself dully. Naruto made a half ram seal and disappeared in a yellow flash. His last thoughts were, 'Itachi, Fugaku-sensei, you two owe me big time.'_

**==Leaf Village Shinobi Academy – 7 AM==**

Today you have started down the true path of becoming Shinobi of the leaf village. However, your journey is far from over. You must now learn to overcome obstacles in your way. Now I will announce your genin squads and your sensei. Team 1…."

"Team 7 is Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyūga," the two friends high-fived each other, "and Shikamaru Nara." There was a muttered 'troublesome' from the sleeping Nara. "Your jōnin sensei will be Naruto Namikaze." At that exact moment the screen door slid open. "Right on time, as usual, Naruto."

There was a chuckle followed by an absurdly young voice. "Why thank you, Iruka. I do try."

All three heads turned to see an absurdly young boy at the doorway. He looked like your run-of-the-mill jōnin except for a pair of strange faded blue eyes made up of a series of concentric circles, and the strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks.

His eyes roamed across the room falling briefly on the three team members. Finally he spoke, "Team 7 please meet me at Training Ground 7 in fifteen minutes. With that he disappeared in a flash of yellow.

"Alright, my cute little genin," Naruto smiled in amusement when all three of them twitched, "why don't we start with introductions? Tell me a little bit about yourselves, things you like and hate, dreams for the future and hobbies."

All three cocked their heads in confusion. "Why don't you tell us, sensei, just to see what we should say," Sasuke suggested.

"Well, alright, I guess, I'm Naruto Namikaze. I like ramen, training and my friends. I hate perverts traitors and waiting for ramen to boil. My hobbies are working with seals, training and drinking sake with my friends, and my dream for the future is," the young sensei looked towards the Hokage monument with a small smile, "is to become Hokage and protect my village and its people." He turned back to see his three young charges staring at him. Hinata raised her hand. "Yes, Hinata?"

"Sensei, how old are you?"

Naruto smiled. "Me? I just turned twelve last October."

The three genins looked at him dumbfounded. 'He's the same age as us!' was the combined thought running through their heads.

"Wait," Sasuke spoke up, "my brother likes to tell me stories of his time in ANBU. One story was about his captain, who was much younger than him and made ANBU at age six. Did you happen to know him?"

This made Naruto chuckle. "Ah yes, little Itachi, a trouble maker if I'd ever saw one." Sasuke blinked sporadically, hearing Itachi described as anything but calm and collected. "To answer your question, yes I did know Itachi in ANBU, I also know whom you are talking about."

"Really? Who?"

"Why, that would be me," Naruto smirked. "Speaking of which, how is Fugaku these days."

Sasuke blinked. "You know dad?"

Naruto nodded. "Fugaku is a good man. He saved my life when I was younger, a debt which I have not, and probably never will, fully repaid, but enough about me. Let's hear about you guys, left to right, starting with pineapple head."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered while both his teammates snickered, "I'm Shikamaru Nara. I like clouds and shōgi, I hate anything troublesome. My hobbies are sleeping, cloud watching and playing shōgi. My dream for the future is to become chūnin, and marry a girl who's not too troublesome, have one boy and one girl, retire at 50 then die before my wife does."

'This kid's lazier than Shikaku, if that's even possible,' Naruto thought with a sweat-drop. "Pale eyes, your next."

"I'm Hinata Hyūga, I like my friends and training. I hate the Caged Bird Seal and my clan's superiority complex. My hobbies are hanging out with my friend and training my taijutsu. My dream for the future is to become the Hyūga clan head and remove the caged bird seal."

An admirable goal, Naruto thought to himself. "Last up, duck-butt boy."

Sasuke shot a giggling Hinata and his new sensei the Uchiha Death GlareTM. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I like my friends, family and training. I hate arrogant people and fangirls. My hobbies are training an hanging out with my friends. My dream is to become an ANBU Captain surpassing my big brother."

'Just like you said, Itachi. Kid gets worked up way too easily.'

"Alright, looks like my team is pretty well balanced. Now, go home, get some rest, and tomorrow you have your genin exam."

All three stared at him. "Err, sensei?" Hinata said uncertainly. "We already took our genin exam."

"Oh, that?" Naruto waved his hand in dismissal. "That was just a preliminary, to see who had a snowball's chance of becoming genin." The young boy looked at each and every one of them. "Go home, get some rest and plenty of food. Meet me here tomorrow at 9 AM sharp." With that, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

**==Uchiha Compound – Later==**

"I'm home!" Sasuke called as he opened the door to his house.

"Hello, Sasuke," Mikoto came forward and gave him a hug.

"Hello son," Fugaku looked up and smiled at his youngest son. "How was today?"

"Pretty great, I got to meet my new sensei."

"Oh, you don't sound too happy," a voice came from the doorway. Sasuke turned to see Itachi standing in his ANBU uniform, Weasel mask discarded.

"Hi big brother, and yeah, our sensei is kind of young. But he says he knows you and dad."

"Oh, really?" Fugaku raised an eyebrow from the kitchen table. "What's his name?"

"It's Naruto Namikaze." Sasuke was surprised when he saw both of them freeze. There was a moment of silence before they began to chuckle. "What?" Sasuke demanded.

"Itachi, I thought you said he didn't want to become a jōnin sensei."

"That's what he told me, but knowing senpai the Hokage probably had to threaten his ramen."

Fugaku chuckled again. "Makes sense."

"So you guys know him?" Sasuke asked in confusion.

"Yes," Fugaku nodded, "Naruto is an old friend of mine, and Itachi's captain from his ANBU days. A prodigy if there ever was one."

"Yes, he had quite the fanclub, too. Even bigger than yours."

Sasuke grimaced at the mention of his fans. Then he heard his mom call, "Alright enough war stories. Sasuke, get changed and get ready for dinner."

"Yes, mum."

**==Kandrakar – The Next Day==**

"Are you sure you want to do this, Will? A world without a heart is always a dangerous place. That is why this one was separated from the infinite dimensions."

"Yes, I'm sure. I need to see him," Will looked at the portal wistfully.

"Then regretfully, we must have the heart. In case something were to go wrong here."

Will nodded and handed the Heart of Kandrakar to the Oracle. In return, he gave her an amulet with a small sapphire hanging from it. "I have imbued this gem with powers. It will give you the ability to transform if needed and it will allow you to open a portal, only once, back to Kandrakar."

"Thank you, Oracle," Will dipped her head in gratitude. She looked at the portal, _'I'm coming, Naruto.'_

**==Training Ground 7 - Later==**

Sasuke was the first to arrive at the training ground. Several minutes later, Hinata arrived. Five minutes afterwards, Shikamaru arrived to see Hinata's nose in a book and Sasuke idly twirling a kunai. He set himself down to doze off. At exactly 9 AM, there was a flash of light. All three genin turned to see their sensei standing in front of them. On his belt were dangling two silver bells. "Good it looks like you're all on time."

Naruto set an alarm clock on the boulder. "Alright, it's set for noon. That leaves all of you three hours to each attempt to get a bell." He gestured at the silver objects dangling from his belt.

"Err, sensei?" Hinata said uncertainly. "There are only two bells."

"Very astute, Hinata," Naruto nodded with approval. "Whoever doesn't get a bell will get tied to that post," he indicated to one of the three wooden posts. "And whoever fails, will be sent back to the academy." Naruto looked around at the stunned faces. "Remember this, just because you get a bell doesn't necessarily mean you'll pass, and just because you don't get a bell, doesn't necessarily mean you'll fail. I will be judging you on your abilities, knowledge, and how you handle combat situations."

He looked at all three genin and added. "One more thing, don't expect to pass if you don't come at me with the intent to kill." He looked between the determined faces and looked for a moment. "Begin!"

There were three flashes as the genin disappeared into the forest.

**==Outside the Leaf Village==**

Will groaned, trying to get to her feet. She was in the middle of a forest somewhere. 'W-what happened? Is this supposed to be the Elemental Nations?'

Whatever she was about to think next was cut off as several masked men appeared in front of her. "Who are you and what is your business here?" one man asked.

"Errr, I..." Will thought back to what the mage had said. 'It has been over a century since any of us has been there, but judging from his headband you should ask for the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. He will probably know.' "I'm not saying until I know who you people are."

"We are ANBU of the Leaf, now I will ask again. Who are you, and what is your business here?"

'Leaf. Hoping that means the Hidden Leaf Village.' "My name is Will Vandom. I'm here to see the Hokage," Will said, trying to sound confident

"What is your business with Lord Hokage?"

"I need his help looking for someone. Please, you have to take me to him."

The masked men looked at each other, then their leader nodded. "Very well, we shall take you to see the Hokage."

Will sighed with relief. 'Well that went better than I thought.'

**==Training Ground 7 - Later==**

Naruto juggled a tri-pronged kunai with his right index finger. The test had gone as he had expected so far. Sasuke had been the first to attack him. A few choice words had left the young Uchiha screaming in rage, much to Naruto's amusement. The young jōnin had made quick work of the boy.

Then came Hinata. She lasted longer due to her knowledge in gentle fist. But when forced on the defensive, she quickly lost ground to Naruto.

Shikamaru has yet to be seen. With one hour left, Naruto was starting to wonder if they would pull this off.

"Okay guys, there is a hidden meaning to this test. We have to work together to get the bells."

"How do you figure that?" Sasuke demanded.

"Think about it. This guy's a jōnin, and an ex-ANBU Captain no less. No one expects a fresh genin out of the academy to beat him. This test is meant for us to work together."

Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, Shika," Hinata said, "what's the game plan?"

Naruto was standing in the middle of the clearing when he heard a rustle behind him. Suddenly Hinata came out, charging full speed at him. Naruto caught the kunai he was twirling by the handle and prepared to leap to the offensive when his senses suddenly tingled. He leapt back just in time for a fireball to assault his positions. That was enough for Hinata to press her attack on Naruto.

There was a blur of movements as Hinata engaged her sensei in taijutsu. Naruto leapt backwards and prepared to move to long range when he spotted another fireball coming at him. With a casual wave, Naruto absorbed the jutsu. 'Well, that's two of them, but what about...' Suddenly, he froze. "Shadow possession success," a voice drawled behind him.

Sasuke moved forward to grab a bell, only for Naruto to dispel in a blast of smoke. A second later, before anyone completely registered, Naruto disappeared in a blast of smoke. A second later there was a ringing sound in the distance. Everyone hung their heads as soon as they heard it.

There was a lone clapping sound. Everyone turned to see Naruto leaning against a black block of stone grinning. "Congratulations, you pass."

"What?" all three of them cried out.

"Getting the bell wasn't the true objective of the test. There was another meaning, and your friend Shikamaru was able to figure it out."

"Teamwork," Shikamaru stated.

"Exactly," Naruto nodded, "teamwork is essential for a shinobi. Why do you think you were all put in three man teams? All of you were able to work flawlessly together. As a matter of fact, I haven't seen teamwork that great from fresh genin in a long time." Naruto grinned at the tree of them. "You all pass, with flying colours."

Naruto waited for the excitement to die down before speaking up. "Now listen up, before we leave there is one more thing I need to say to you." He patted the black stone next to him. "This stone is a memorial to the heroes of our village. Heroes who were killed on the line of duty." Immediately the three genin's faces took on a more sombre expression. "Those of us who break the rules nothing but trash, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than that. Remember those words." Naruto looked at the face of each and every one of the genin. "Alright, enough with that. Why don't I treat you guys to lunch?"

**==Hokage's Office==**

Will stood before an old man wearing a red and white robe. "So," the man said, "you requested to see me, yet you are obviously not from anywhere around this land since you apparently know so little about it. Which begs the question of who are you and why are you here?"

Will sighed. "My name is Will Vandom, and I'm the leader of the five guardians of the infinite dimensions. I have power over quintessence, one of the five powers of the Heart of Kandrakar. It isn't with me right now, but I have this necklace as a substitute," Will pointed.

The Hokage blinked for a moment, looking at her like she was crazy. "I see, and why are you here?"

"I'm looking for someone actually, a boy named Naruto Namikaze."

The Hokage stiffened. 'Guardian or not, how did this girl know about Naruto?' "Why do you want him?" There was a sharp edge in his voice.

"I just need to see him, please. He's not hurt is he?" Will leaned forward, a slight edge of panic crept into her voice.

"No he's fine." So she's not here to harm him, I guess I could give it a shot. "ANBU, get Naruto Namikaze in my office!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

**==Ichiraku Ramen==**

The three genin watched in awe as Naruto devoured his sixth bowl of ramen. _'Where does he put it all?'_ they thought in unison.

Naruto slammed the bowl down with a clack and looked at the three genin. "Alright, time to give you my evaluation. Sasuke I'll start with you. Your ninjutsu is quite impressive and your taijutsu is higher than average. However, you're way too hot-headed," Sasuke shot his snickering teammates the Uchiha Death GlareTM. "Therefore, you tend rush headfirst into a fight without thinking. We'll need to work on that."

Naruto looked at the Hyūga girl. "Hinata, your taijutsu is the best out of all the academy, and your Byakūgan provides you with an incredible advantage. However, you lack a proper defence and are also more vulnerable to ranged attacks. Something we'll have to work on."

Finally, he looked at the final teammate and sighed. "Shikamaru, you're smarter than any genin I've ever come across before. However, I've seen more life from a brick wall."

Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome," while his teammates snickered.

"Listen to me very carefully, laziness is a luxury you cannot afford on mission. Your father was the same, as lazy as an old bag of prunes when he was off duty, but when on missions, he was completely focused. Slacking off can easily cost you the success of a mission, and even," Naruto's eyes wandered to Hinata and Sasuke, "the life of a teammate. Do you understand?"

Shikamaru nodded seriously.

"Good," Naruto looked at all three of them. "Report to Training Ground 7 at 6 AM sharp. I'll give you your training schedules then."

Naruto watched as his genin headed off. There was a flicker of black, and an ANBU appeared beside him. "Senpai, Lord Hokage wants to see you."

**==Ended==**

**This is the Re upload of Now and Forever. So please Review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Heartfelt Reunions

Chapter 2: Heartfelt Reunions

Will tapped her foot impatiently. It had been fifteen minutes since the Hokage had sent his ANBU to find Naruto. A hundred scenarios were running through her head. _'What if he was busy?' _What if he didn't want to see her? What if it wasn't him in her dream?_ 'What if he already had someone else? What if...'_ Will was cut off when the door to the Hokage's office slammed open, followed by a familiar voice. "So, old man, what's the big..." Naruto trailed off when his eyes locked onto the figure standing in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Naruto," the Hokage began, "this is Will Vandom. She says she's a guardian of some sorts, and came here loo..." the Hokage was cut off as Naruto suddenly flashed forward and swept Will into a deep kiss. "I see you two know each other," he commented drily.

After about a minute of heated kissing the couple finally broke apart, gasping for air. "Will, how'd you get here?" Naruto breathed.

"Some friends of mine opened a one-time portal for me," Will gestured at the necklace.

"Some friends," Naruto muttered.

The Hokage cleared his throat, causing Naruto to glare at him. "Old man, you're ruining the moment."

"Well, my apologies, Naruto, but I would like to know what's going on, but from what I assume, this is the lady you mentioned to have met during your...ahhhh...adventures a couple of years back."

"You betcha old man, this is Wilhelmina Vandom, but she prefers Will." Naruto corrected quickly, seeing Will's glare.

"Will then," the Hokage smiled at the girl, "welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village. I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage."

"It's an honour, sir."

Naruto scoffed. "He's just a dried up old pervert, and don't think I don't know where you stash Pervy Sage's smut, old man."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the Hokage said innocently, a little too innocently. "Well Will, why don't you tell us about yourself."

So Will did, recounting the story of how they had moved from Fadden Hills. How she met the girls and became a guardian, the battles to free Meridian from the grips of Prince Phobos. The battles against Nerissa, including the discovery of Quintessence. How it was a few days after the final battle against Lord Cedric that Naruto was able to contact her. How she had travelled to Kandrakar to ask them to look for him. How the Oracle had said that she might not be able to return and how she didn't care.

By the end of the story, Naruto had one hand wrapped around the girl's waist, and the Hokage was smiling affectionately, seeing his surrogate grandson happy with another woman. "So yeah, that's basically it."

"Wow, that sure is something," Naruto looked at her affectionately.

"For now, however, I think it's best if we keep this guardian thing a secret. I don't think you want everyone in the village to know about you."

"So do want me to lie low or something?" Will blew a tuff of hair up, resulting in an electric current running through her hair.

"Actually I think that you should become ninja."

"What?" Will asked in confusion. All she could thing of were those Japanese assassins in black suits waving shurikens around.

"Well, this is a ninja village," Naruto piqued up. "Most of us here are ninjas, me included."

"Wait, you?" Will looked at him. "But you look nothing like a ninja."

"Well what do ninjas look like."

"You know, black masks and suits, doing all those things like waving swords around."

Both Naruto and the Hokage stared in amusement. "Will, your earthly fantasies don't have much merit against real ninja here."

"Indeed, as a ninja you will learn ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu among other things. The only problem is that you can't use chakra."

"Yes she can," Naruto said, "I've seen them myself. They're just dormant. All it needs is some proper siphoning, which I can do. Only problem is who to teach her. I've got a genin team."

"I'll think of someone, in the meantime, she looks tired. Maybe you should take her home."

Naruto nodded. "Will do."

**==At the Namikaze - Training Ground==**

Will gaped like a fish. She was standing on a field of grass, bordering it was a shimmering blue lake surrounded by a strip of grassland before melding into thick wooded forests. On the south side of the lake was a beautiful garden, surrounding a marble white mansion.

"Okay, wow doesn't even begin to cover it right now."

Naruto wrapped an arm around her neck. "I'm glad you approve." He led her through the mansion's training ground. "This is the training ground. Now, we'll see what we can do about your chakra coils. Please lift up your shirt."

Will suddenly flushed a bright red. "WHAT?"

"Only to your stomach, Will," Naruto laughed in amusement.

"Oh, right," Will huffed, blowing her hair, trying to conceal the embarrassment "I knew that."

Naruto laughed. To stave off embarrassment, Will quickly lifted her shirt up to just below her chest line. Naruto pressed his hands gently on her stomach; making Will shiver at the warm touch. His hands began to glow blue, as he pumped a little of his chakra through his arm and into her. It was like someone had hit a light switch to a power grid not used in years. The natural reserves in her body flickered before flowing through the mass of chakra pathways, activating what had laid dormant for all of her life. Will gasped, feeling her own energy increase tenfold, even more than her Guardian form. Warm energy coursed through her body.

Naruto quickly began to work on gently opening all 361 chakra points along the body. "Your chakra pathways are healthy, but your reserves are only about the size of a fresh genin, probably because you haven't been using any chakra all your life. Though usually you'd have the chakra capacity of a civilian or academy student at best, this is probably because you've been throwing lightning bolts around for the past year or so."

Naruto remove his hand from her stomach, letting the glow vanish. He looked at Will's utterly confused expression and sighed. "Let me explain. Chakra is the energy of every living being in this world. It is the moulding of the physical present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once moulded, it can be channelled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 chakra points in the body. Through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, the chakra can then be manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water, exhaling fire or creating illusions."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Will looked at Naruto incredulously. "Exhaling fire? Creating illusions? Walking on water?"

"Those among the most basic of abilities."

"Wow," Will blinked, "this will take some getting used to."

Naruto looked up at the sky. Measuring the position of the sun, he estimated that it was about 2 PM. He looked back to Will and asked, "Can you do that transforming thing into a guardian?"

Will nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"I want to see how powerful you are. So we're going to spar, and since we're already at the training grounds, already."

"Naruto, I don't know," Will looked uncertain. "My control isn't the best. What if I accidentally hurt you?"

Naruto smirked. "Trust me Will, just worry about yourself on this one."

"Oh, alright," Will grasped her necklace. The gem began to glow a light blue colour. "Quintessence!"

Several hours later found Will on the ground groaning, while Naruto kneeled beside her, not a speck of dust nor scratch on him. At first Will had avoided more powerful attacks, but upon seeing the blonde jōnin manage to evade her strikes with apparent ease, she began upping her attacks, until all her experience, skill and power was focused on merely hitting the blonde boy. Suffice to say, it didn't take her long to be worn out.

"Are you alright?" he placed a concerned hand on her forehead.

Will groaned again. "How in the name of all that's holy are you still standing?"

Naruto chuckled in relief. "I'm a trained shinobi. It'll take a lot more than that to take me down."

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, painting the sky a dark blue colour. The moon was already visible, shimmering over the lake.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"What exactly are we?"

"Sorry?" Naruto looked down at her confused.

"I mean relationship wise, what are we?"

"Oh, well," Naruto smiled at her, "what would you want us to be?"

"Well, I mean I've never really had a boyfriend, so I'm not really sure what to..." Will trailed off as Naruto leaned down until his face was only an inch from hers.

"First time for everything," he whispered and kissed her gently.

Will sighed as she let the feelings wash over her. Finally, Naruto leaned back up again. "We should get going," he looked at the darkening sky.

Will groaned and winced as she tried to get her sore muscles to move. The young jōnin watched her for a moment before sighing and scooping her up bridal style.

The guardian's face immediately turned red. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to your room," Naruto said casually. "You can take your pick. I've got plenty."

"How about your room?"

"What? My room?" Naruto gave Will a stare. "Technically, even though I am, you're not an adult yet. I'm not sure if that's legal..."

"Naruto!" Will made a swipe at his arm. "So not what I meant."

Naruto snickered. "I know what you mean, jeez."

"What do you mean you're an adult? I'm four years older than you."

"When you're a shinobi, you're legally considered an adult. However, you are still a civilian who is not yet eighteen. Thus making me an adult and you not." Will pouted at Naruto's reasoning.

**==Namikaze Mansion - Night==**

The young jōnin carried the girl to a large master bedroom. Actually, it was almost the size of her entire apartment flat combined, well lit, and decorated with many things, including a crystal chandelier.

Naruto set Will down on the large king-sized bed. "Well, here we are. Did you bring anything with you?"

"Only a change of clothes and a set of pajamas. They're all in my backpack. I think I left it in the training grounds."

Naruto nodded and vanished with a yellow flash. A moment later, he reappeared carrying Will's backpack. "Here you go," Naruto dumped the back pack on the bed beside.

"Can you leave please, so I can change?"

"Yes, ma'am," Naruto smirked and stepped quickly out of the double doors. Will groaned and whimpered as she forced her muscles to move just enough so she could change into her pyjamas. "I'm decent," Will called.

Naruto opened the door. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of orange boxers, which gave Will a very clear view of his chest and arms, the muscles toned and well developed after ten years from a young age of shinobi career. Will fought to fight down the growing blush. "Hungry?"

Will shook her head. "Just sore and tired."

"You've just used chakra for the first time. That's why I had you fight, to get your body used to it. If I hadn't you'd be feeling worse come tomorrow. Now that the chakra's been integrated into your cells, you'll wake up in the morning feeling refreshed."

"I hope so," Will buried under the cover. She felt Naruto lie down next to her.

"Comfortable or would you like me to use another bedroom?"

"No!" Will said a little too quickly.

Naruto laughed. "Sweet dreams, Will."

**==The Next Morning==**

True to Naruto's words, Will woke up the next morning feeling better than she'd felt in, well, ever. She looked to her left where Naruto was supposed to be last night. The sheet had been freshly made and on top of it were a pile of books with a note on top of it. Will looked at the note. It was Naruto's handwriting; she recognized it from the elegant scripture he used to write with.

* * *

><p>Will,<p>

I placed a seal on you last night that would allow you to understand our writing. I'm sorry I couldn't stick around, but I do have a team of genin to take care of. I've placed some books on the bed for you that can get you started with your shinobi training. I'll introduce you to your tutor this afternoon who will introduce you to the basics of shinobi. Feel free to use the library if anything else is needed.

Love,

Naruto

P.S. Breakfast is on the kitchen table if you want it. Hope you like bacon omelets with hash-browns. There're also some clothes in the wardrobe for you.

* * *

><p>Will smiled. One of the things she loved about Naruto was that he was so considerate. She looked at the clock on her bed stand. 'Nine AM,' she thought, 'might as well get some food.'<p>

**==Training Ground 7 – Three Hours Earlier==**

"You look awfully happy today, sensei."

"Do I?" Naruto grinned. He was pretty happy. "Must be excitement. Anyways, glad you're all here. The reason I asked you to come early is so that we can get to the Hokage tower to scrap out the good missions, and not be stuffed with something like catching Tora."

"Who's Tora?"

"The Fire Daimyo's cat," Naruto said with a grimace. He remembered when he had accidentally 'volunteered' himself for the assignment. The damned succubus had led him on a wild chase for about half an hour throughout the village, before Naruto got fed up. A few well placed wind jutsus and a couple of rasengans later, and the cat was in his arms, cowering with fear. Suffice to say, it became a lot more docile around our young jinchūriki.

"What's so bad about a cat?" Hinata wondered.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "I bet we could take care of the mission in no time."

An idea hit Naruto and he grinned evilly. "Oh really? Well then, I guess we will take the mission after all."

**==One Hour Later==**

Naruto sat atop the Hokage monument, casually sipping tea as he watched the three genin engaged in a desperate chase with Tora, the cat. He didn't blame their frustration. In terms of pure speed, the little bugger from hell could give Guy's little clone a run for his money.

"Don't you have a genin team to look after?" Naruto turned to see a jōnin with silver hair that stuck in great mass. His entire face was covered, save for his right eye. His face was buried in an orange book.

"Senpai," Naruto smiled, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, just wandering," Kakashi waved off. "You haven't answered my question."

Naruto wordlessly pointed at where Tora was evading a hail of kunai from the enraged Uchiha. Kakashi raised a lone eye. "You already have them capturing Tora on their first day?"

Naruto shrugged. "They asked for it."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU DEMON SPAWN! **FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!**"

Naruto sighed. "Better get going before they kill the cat."

**==A Few Minutes Later==**

Naruto and his team stood in the Hokage's office. All the team members were shooting glares at Naruto, or more specifically, the little demon purring in his arms. "You knew that was going to happen," Sasuke accused.

"I did," Naruto nodded, "think of it as a lesson to think next time before you start running your mouth."

All three members glared daggers at him. "Mission capture Tora is a success." Naruto dumped the poor creature into the oversized lady's arms. The woman began to proceed to smother the car to death. All the members of Team 7 winced. They almost felt sorry for the cat. 'Almost.'

"Would you like another mission, Team 7?"

But Naruto shook his head. "One a day, old man. I need to take them training." He turned to them. "Well team, to Training Ground 7."

**==Training Ground 7 – Later==**

"Alright, my minions," Naruto smirked as the three genin twitched, "today is our first day of training together. I'm going to start it by introducing you to the Namikaze-Uzumaki Training Regime from hell."

All three genin gulped. This did not sound good.

"First we start off with a light jog around the village."

All three of them sighed with relief. It didn't sound that bad.

**==Later==**

"Light jog, my ass!" Sasuke yelled.

"Damn you, sensei!" Shikamaru's growl was muffled by the fact that his face was planted in the ground.

"I can't feel my legs," Hinata groaned.

"You three complain too much," Naruto said, becoming the receiving end of the Uchiha Death GlareTM and two others that came surprisingly close. He continued unbidden, "I made you run five laps. A friend of mine would have made you run twice that amount carrying boulders. Now come here, you'll find the next step interesting."

The genin staggered to their sensei, who pulled out three slips of paper. "This will show me your elemental affinity, so I know which direction to head you guys. Every shinobi has an affinity to one or more of the five basic elements, wind, water, fire, earth and lightning. Channel some chakra to this paper and the reaction will be shown. Fire burns the paper, wind cuts it, water soaks it, earth will make it turn to dust, and lightning will crumple it. Sasuke you go first, though I can already guess what it will be."

Sasuke held the paper up for all to see. One half of the paper burnt, as Naruto expected. However, he was surprised when the other half crinkled sharply. "Fire and lightning, interesting combo. Hinata's next.

Naruto's eyes widened when Hinata's paper split sharply in two, then both sides soaked wet. "Water and wind, a rather useful element, especially when integrated with your taijutsu style. Shikamaru, you're last."

Naruto almost gaped when Shikamaru's split in half before both sides crumbled. 'Damn, double affinities for all of them.' "Earth and wind. Well, it looks like you all have dual affinities, incredibly rare for genins. Don't get a swelled head, though. It only means you'll have to work extra hard, mastering your affinities." The genins visibly deflated.

"Naruto-sensei," Hinata piqued up, "what is your affinity?"

Naruto smirked and pulled out another slip. To the genin's shock and surprise, Naruto slip split into six parts, one burned, one crinkled, one crumbled and one soaked. To their immense surprise, the last two pieces glowed brightly, while the other turned pitch black. "A very special condition at birth allows me to control all five of the elements, and the two universal elements, Yin and Yang." Naruto tapped the bottom of his right eye. All the genins stared at the dull blue ringed eyes. They'd never took much notice in their sensei's strange eyes.

"What do those two elements do?" Shikamaru asked, his interest perked for once.

"No idea," Naruto deadpanned, making the genins sweat-drop. "Never really experimented with it."

"So are you going to teach us our affinities?" Sasuke asked, excited.

"Well before I do that, you guys will need to improve your chakra control, or you might risk blowing yourselves up or something." All three gulped. "To start off, I'll teach you guys how to climb trees."

Two pairs of eyes questioned his sanity. Naruto could see a small smirk on Hinata's face however. _'So she has learned it. Of course, gentle fist requires incredibly precise chakra control, and I hear from Hiashi that Hinata is somewhat of a prodigy, able to mould the style into new, more unorthodox ways, making her even more dangerous.'_

"Well since you're all looking at me like I'm crazy, I'll just show you." Naruto walked towards a tree, his expression blank. 'Damn, I can't wait to see their expressions. ' He reached the tree and casually place his left foot on the trunk, then the right foot. He slowly ascended the tree, using his chakra to climb vertically with his hands in his pockets. He reached a branch and walked along the bottom, and tilted his head up, so that he was looking down at the gawking expressions of both genin. 'Ehehe, priceless.'

"Naruto-sensei?" Hinata piqued up. "I already know this exercise."

"Oh, really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I'm actually not surprised. The Hyūga clan master chakra control at a very young age for the purpose of their gentle fist style. However, your chakra reserves are still inadequate for elemental training. Therefore you will work on it by running up and down the tree for extended amounts of time. It's the best way to boost your reserves." Naruto turned to the other two. "Use your kunai to mark your progress. Go!"

**==Namikaze Mansion==**

Will was browsing through the Namikaze library, for something interesting to read. She had already finished the first few books, titled 'Explaining Chakra for Beginners, The Basics of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu and The Code of the Shinobi.'

Now Will was merely browsing through the shelves of the Namikaze libraries. Although she didn't know it, Naruto's introduction of chakra into her body had caused a subtle shift in her mentality. Before that reading about fifty different ways to quietly kill an enemy would have disgusted her. Now she had no qualms against them.

A book on the shelf perked her interest. She picked it up and read the title. 'Introduction to the Arts of Torture and Interrogation.'

**==Ended==**


	3. Chapter 3: New Developments

Chapter 3: New Developments

Naruto looked at his genin team, impressed by their progress. Sasuke was the slowest, only making it twelve feet. Shikamaru wasn't far ahead, with fourteen feet. Naruto felt a presence next to him and turned to see Itachi standing next to him. The Uchiha clan prodigy was, as always, chewing on a stick of pocky. "Senpai," he greeted.

"Hello, Itachi," Naruto grinned.

"Are you almost finished?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded at him and turned towards his three genin. "Alright, enough for today," he called. Shikamaru, Sasuke and Hinata stopped what they were doing and walked up to him. Sasuke greeted his brother who nodded back. "Great job team. Tomorrow will be the same routine. You have Sundays off. You may do what you want or come to me if you have any trouble with training or need my help."

All three genins nodded and said their goodbyes. Naruto and Itachi watched them walk off before disappearing in a swirl of leaves and a yellow flash.

**==Later==**

"Thanks for taking this assignment, Itachi," Naruto said as the leapt through the forest.

"No problem, the least I could do after you saved my life back in the Land of Lightning."

Naruto's lips twitched. "You mean that thing with the Lightning princess. Weren't you drunk and almost tricked into marrying her?"

Itachi grimaced. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Naruto laughed, as they sped on until they reached the grounds of the Namikaze estate.

Will was sprawled across a couch in the living room, reading the book she had found, when she hear the door open. She looked to see Naruto walk in with a young man of about twenty-one. With black hair and onyx eyes. "Naruto," Will placed the book down and went to hug him.

"Hey there, Will," Naruto pecked her on the cheek. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good, considering what I learnt. You?"

"Ahh, not too bad. Oh yeah, I want to introduce you to your new sensei. Will this is Itachi Uchiha, Itachi, Will Vandom."

"Pleasure to meet you," Will shook his hand.

"And you," Itachi nodded. "You must be quite special to have caught the eye of my senpai."

"Oh I'm not that special," Will blushed and looked away.

"I disagree," Naruto murmured. In a louder tone he told Will, "Itachi will be here from eight in the morning to about five in the afternoon. He will teach you all there is to know about the arts of shinobi."

"Cool, thanks Itachi," Will smiled.

"No problem."

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Nah, as much as I'd love to, I do have plans."

"Alright then, see you around," Naruto waved.

Dinner was delicious. Naruto had memorized more than several recipe books. So he served steak with loaded baked potatoes. After dinner, Naruto and Will were in the living room, when Naruto spotted Will's book lying open. He picked it up and studied the title with a raised eyebrow. "Introduction to the Arts of Torture and Interrogation?" Naruto read the title with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think this interested you. You couldn't even watch a horror movie if I remembered correctly."

"Yeah, it's sort of weird. I saw the book, and suddenly I wanted to read it." Will looked up. "Naruto could you show me how to become an interrogator?"

Naruto grimaced. "Well, I know the basics to perform a field interrogation, but if you really want to become an expert, you'll have to talk to the folks at the Torture and Interrogation Department. I would say wait until you've finished you basics training with Itachi. Then, if you really want to, I could ask my friend, Ibiki, to see what you can do."

Will nodded. That was a fine compromise.

**==Kandrakar==**

"You sent Will on a mission without us?"

"It was Will who requested this mission," the Oracle said.

"But she's on her own," Taranee protested. "What if something happens?"

"Then we shall definitely know about it. In the mean time, you, Hay Lin, shall assume the role as Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, however, for a leader, I have requested someone else."

"Why not one of us?"

"Because none of you have the leadership experience necessary to assume the role. Instead, the Light of Meridian shall become the temporary leader of the guardians."

"Hi, girls!" Everyone turned to see a waving Elyon.

"Elyon! You're the leader?"

"But what about Meridian?"

"Well, the council's running it for me right now. It'll be fine."

**==Timeskip==**

It had been several months. Team 7 was developing into arguably the best genin team out of the entire graduating class. They had already mastered the tree climbing and water walking exercises, and were already moving towards their first elemental affinities, as well as learning rudimentary ninjutsu. After several months of being subjugated to the Namikaze-Uzumaki Training Regime from Hell, it was safe to say that they were at least mid-chūnin level.

The one who had progressed the most however, was one Will Vandom. Itachi pushed Will, covering her basics until she was high-genin level by the end of the first month. It was during this time that Will had a run-in with one Ibiki Morino. A quick word from both Naruto and Itachi convinced Ibiki to allow Will a shot at T&I. After another month of internship, Ibiki agreed to make Will his apprentice. That was all the Hokage needed to hand Will her headband as an official Leaf Shinobi. By now she was low to mid-chūnin, somewhat of a prodigy.

Naruto had been apprehensive of Will joining T&I. Earth was a different place from the Elemental Nations and Naruto feared Will would break. But after witnessing one of her 'sessions' under the watchful eye of Ibiki, he quickly laid those fears to rest. Will herself wasn't very comfortable with the mess that inevitably followed, but Ibiki told her she would eventually get over it. Besides, Will was to engrossed in the art to back down now.

Today was just like any other first day of the month, which usually started off with...

"DAMN THAT CAT!"

...catching Tora the cat.

The team was standing inside the office. Shikamaru stunk to the heavens with a bruise on his forehead when the cat had jumped on his back, knocking him into a garbage can. Hinata had claw marks on her arm, when she had tried to catch the little devil. Sasuke was the worst off. His face was a patchwork of scratches. All three kept shooting death glares at their smirking sensei.

"Alright Team 7, congratulations on a job well done. I'm assuming this is it?"

"Actually, old man, I would like to request a mission for my team." The glares intensified, while the Hokage looked confused.

"Well, let's see we've got a mission to clean out the Inuzuka kennels, feed the Nara's deer, paint the..."

"Old man," Naruto cut off, "I would like to request a C-Rank."

All three of them looked at Naruto in surprise. "Naruto," Iruka protested, "they've only been genin for a few months. You can't possibly be thinking about having them complete a C-Rank."

"Trust me, Iruka," Naruto said earnestly, "I know what my team are capable of, and I know they aren't over their heads."

"Very well," the Hokage muttered, "I do have a mission. It's a simple escort mission. You are to escort a merchant caravan. Mission estimation is about a month. The caravan leaves in three hours."

Naruto nodded and turned to his team. He could see anticipation in their eyes. Even those of lazy Shikamaru. "Pack for a month long mission," he instructed. "Use storage seals and keep it light. Meet me outside here in about two and a half hours."

All three genin nodded and they disappeared in a mass of leaves.

**==Two and a Half Hours Later==**

As per Naruto's instructions, the genin kept it light, using only storage scrolls to carry their supplies. "Alright, we'll stop by ANBU T&I before we head to the gates."

"Err, sensei?" Hinata raised her hand. "Why do we have to visit Torture and Interrogation?"

"Well, I'd like to say goodbye to my girlfriend before we leave." The genin stared at him like he'd grown an extra head. "What?"

"Who is your girlfriend, sensei?" Sasuke wondered.

"You'll see," Naruto smirked and waved the genin to follow him.

**==Outside ANBU Torture and Interrogation Headquarters – Later==**

Naruto stood in front of the desk as his team stared at the surroundings of the T&I entrance. The receptionist looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Captain? What are you doing here?"

Naruto laughed. "Sorry, Shinara. This captain retired a while back."

"You? Retired? That's something I thought I'd never see. I'm assuming that's your genin team then?"

"Yeah, as for why I'm here, I'm looking for Will Vandom."

Shinara gave him an incredulous look. "Ibiki's apprentice? She doesn't like it when someone interrupts her session. She can be quite intimidating."

"Trust me," Naruto smirked, "she'll make an exception for me."

"If you think so," Shinara turned to an ANBU and signalled for her to fetch the girl.

There was a pause of a few minutes before Will appeared with a blast of smoke. She was wearing the standard ANBU uniform with a large black coat over it. She didn't have a mask yet, due to the fact that she was still an apprentice. Her hands were bloodied and there was large specks of blood over her coat and uniform. The genin's eyes bugged out when they saw that she looked only fifteen or sixteen. The annoyed expression on her face shifted to a bright one when she saw Naruto. "Naruto!"

"Hey, Will. You're looking...errr...messier than usual."

Will huffed. "Yeah, one of the rookies botched up an interrogation and I had to step in. I would hug you, except I don't think you'd appreciate blood on your clothes." Will looked at the three genin. "So this is your genin team?"

"Yep, Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyūga and Shikamaru Nara," Naruto gestured to each of them. "Guys, this is Will Vandom, my girlfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you all." Will gave a warm smile.

"I was just going to tell you that we're going on our first C-Rank. If all goes well, we should be back by the month's end."

"Aww, I'll miss you," Will leaned forward to peck him on the lips, carefully avoiding touching the young jōnin anywhere else. "Good luck to you guys. I'd better get back to my next victim."

"Honestly," Naruto shook his head, "you're spending too much time around Anko."

"Probably."

As Will thought about it, she knew that a few months ago, she would have looked at all this with shock and revulsion. Now, although she still wasn't comfortable with it entirely, she'd learned how to cope. Besides, Ibiki had once told her that the best interrogators made the least mess possible, and she was also taking side training in medical ninjutsu. It would help her patch the poor men up afterwards.

Will opened the cell door her next victim was being held in. A missing-nin that had been caught when an attempted rape of a female kunoichi in the field backfired tremendously. Will detested people like them. She had from a very young age. "You know," she said casually, "I always wondered what the most painful way to castrate someone would be."

She gripped a pair of rusty shears from the table and watched as the man's eyes widened as he struggled harder against his bond. _'Sometimes being an interrogator does have its perks,'_ she thought.

A moment later, _'I probably have been spending too much time around Anko.'_

"So that was your girlfriend?" Sasuke wondered.

"Yep, isn't she great?"

"She seems a little sadistic," Hinata commented drily.

"Only in the interrogation rooms. Everyone in the ANBU has a sadistic side."

"Kinda like you and training, sensei?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Naruto laughed sheepishly. What could he say? It was true.

The merchant caravan was already at the north gate. One of the men, Naruto presumed it was the leader , stepped forward. "Are you our protection?"

"We're it."

The merchant studied them for a while longer. "I've never seen a four man genin team before. And where's your sensei?"

Naruto laughed. "I'm the sensei." The merchant's eyes widened, and he was about to protest when Naruto cut him off. "I'm an elite jōnin. I've taken down a fair share of high ranked missing-nins in my day. Untrained bandits will hardly be an issue here."

The merchant looked at them warily, but in the end relented.

"Alright, let's get going," Naruto signalled the genin into position with Naruto taking point, Sasuke and Shikamaru flanking and Hinata guarding the rear.

**==One Week Later==**

"Well, that was boring," Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah, not a single bandit in sight."

"Mmm," Naruto was hoping for some action for his team. Even a few bandits would have sufficed. He had to agree with them.

"So what do we do now, sensei?"

"We head back. I'm starting to miss Will."

At Naruto's urging, it took them a day to return. The genin were given the next day off to recuperate.

**==One Week Later==**

Will fingered the necklace that had been given to her by the Oracle. She hadn't thought of home in so long. She and her mother weren't exactly on best terms, when she left. However, being here for so long, she missed her friends. The Oracle had known that there was a chance Will wouldn't be coming back. That was why he had told her that in two years, the Heart of Kandrakar would be given to a new keeper.

She had often thought of returning, but an assortment of reasons kept her from leaving. First and foremost was Naruto. The young cheerful boy was the light of her life during her time in Fadden Hills. He had kept her herself. If he didn't exist, Will would have been some shy girl with a confidence issue and stuttering with every sentence. Now Naruto was the light of her existence. Seeing him again triggered a part of her life that she never wanted to let go again.

Also, looking back at the Infinite Dimensions now. Will realized how she, and everyone else, was so blinded from the truth. They had thought Meridian during Phobos' rein was bad, but this made that look like a paradise. Here there was no clear concept of good and evil. The line was so blurred. Will could never go back to being just a guardian. Not after what she'd done in T&I.

Will sighed in apprehension. 'ANBU examination tomorrow,' she thought. She didn't know why this was bothering her. She'd done countless sessions before 'Oh, right. That's right. This time Ibiki won't be there to help me along.' That wasn't true, she knew. Ibiki would be in the observation platform, observing Will, along with many others.

Will huffed. She actually had a pretty good plan, but this was something she had never tried before. Her victim would be a C-Ranked missing-nin captured by the ANBU only a few days ago. 'Tomorrow will be interesting,' she thought to herself.

She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice it until a pair of arms surrounded her waist. "How are you, darling?" a low voice whispered into her ear.

Will smiled and snuggled into Naruto's embrace. "You're back early."

"Yeah, the mission went without complications."

"I'm glad." Will grinned.

"Worried about tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it's a big day."

"You'll do fine, and I'll be watching in case anything goes wrong."

"I know you will."

**==ANBU Headquarters – The Next Day==**

Will went over the file for the man. He was an ex-chūnin of the Hidden Rock Village, defected several years ago. He was, for some reason, caught trying to infiltrate a noble's palace. That in of itself was enough to give off suspicions. Fortunately, he was caught in the act by a group of ANBU.

When she had seen enough, she closed the file and gave the ANBU a nod, before being escorted to the room. It was exactly as Will had asked it to be set up, a chairs and table to strap the prisoner in with a few tables scattered throughout for Will to work with. She quickly unsealed her equipment onto the table. As she did so, she idly wondered what her friends were up to.

**==Heatherfield==**

* * *

><p>"And so the search continues for missing 16 year old girl, Wilhelmina "Will" Vandom. Will had disappeared about 8 months ago after what her mother reported as a particularly bad argument between mother and daughter. Police are still baffled as to where..."<p>

* * *

><p>Hay Lin quickly turned the TV off. "I can't believe she wouldn't even leave an astral drop."<p>

"When you think about it," Taranee said, "Will did have a really bad argument with her mother."

"Do you think we should tell her?" Cornelia asked. "Mrs. Vandom is wreck, and taking some guilt off of her would be nice."

All the girls turned to their temporary leader. After a moment, Elyon nodded. "Let's let her in."

**==ANBU T&I Cell 3A==**

"Bring him in please," Will called. She was dimly aware of the people from the observation room. The young apprentice was dressed in an ANBU uniform along with the black interrogator's coat and a black wolf mask to conceal her identity.

Ibiki watched with interest as his apprentice set up the room.

"What's she planning?" Naruto raised an eyebrow beside him.

"Hell if I know," Ibiki shrugged. "I've never seen this before."

"Ten thousand ryō says she breaks Ibiki's record time," one of the ANBU said next to him.

"You are so on."

Will did not notice the bets that were being placed. Instead, she was completely focused when to ANBU shoved the Rock-nin into the room with a duffel bag over his head. "Strap him in," Will gestured to the chair.

The ANBU strapped him into the metal chair and swiftly removed the duffel bag in one yank. The chūnin blinked for a moment before focusing on the figure in front of him. Will nodded to the ANBU to leave. "Well, well. Looks like we have a little missing-nin case on our hands."

"Screw you," the man growled, straining against his bonds.

"Sorry," Will chuckled, "but I already have a boyfriend. Anyways here's the deal." She plucked a kunai and began to twirl it. "Since you're obviously being so damned stubborn, let me tell you how this works. I ask the questions, you answer. If you don't, there's going to be a lot of pain."

"Damn," Anko said from the observation room, "this kid's good."

"Definitely smooth."

"Tell me about it."

Down in the cell, Will continued to speak. "You may or may not know, but I'm still an apprentice. Therefore, I'm not very good at this. However, I do have a very stubborn nature. I've been told this quite a few times."

"So? What the hell are you playing at?"

"Well, I've got a million things I've always wanted to try. So, me being an apprentice, I'm probably gonna botch it up. So, I'll just have to try it again and again and again, and obviously it's going to be very painful. For you that is."

Up in the observation room, Anko and the ANBU watched in awe. "Dear Kami, this kid's something else."

"Damn, I think the bastard just wet himself."

"I like the brat already," Anko gave a sadistic smirk.

"You trained her well, Ibiki," Naruto smiled.

"She trained herself, mostly. I just pointed her in the right direction."

Down in the interrogation room. Will picked up a syringe from the table. "This is a nerve enhancer," she explained. "It enhances your senses by ten times. Including the sense of pain."

The man's eyes widened as he began to struggle futilely against his bonds. Will smirked as she plunged the syringe into the man's arm. "Last chance to talk. Do it, and I'll inject the antidote."

The chūnin clamped his mouth shut. Will sighed. She plucked out two kunai from her pouch. "Let's see if it works." She twirled the kunai and plunged both into the man's legs. The screams grew louder when Will began to run lightning chakra through the kunai, while twisting it at the same time. After 5 minutes, she yanked the kunai out of the legs. "Want to talk, now? Don't make me make it worse."

The chūnin glared at Will venomously. She shook her head, and moved to the table and picked up a bottle of green liquid. "This is a special poison I've developed from rare plants. It triggers the peeling away of skin over the course of sixteen hours. It won't kill you, but you'll wish it had by the time I'm done with you."

The man's eyes widened as he began to struggle. Will drew closer, and was about to plunge the needle into the man's arm when he yelled, "No, don't! I'll talk."

The observation room was silent for a moment. Then cheers broke out. "Damnit, she actually did it."

"She beat Ibiki's record, too!"

"Kid sure is something else."

Naruto smiled fondly at the girl. She had come so far. For a moment, Naruto felt a pang of guilt. She had been so blissfully ignorant not too long ago. Now she was working for T&I. Naruto pushed the thought aside. Will had wanted this. Now he was just glad she had reached her goal.

**==Ended==**


	4. Chapter 4: Mission to the Wave

Chapter 4: Mission to the Wave

**==That Night==**

"Congratulations on making the ANBU," Naruto grinned.

"Thanks, Naruto." The young couple walked hand in hand through the streets of the Leaf. "Naruto, where are you taking me?" Will giggled.

"You'll see," Naruto smirked.

Will did see indeed. They arrived at a restaurant that looked nothing like the others in the Leaf. In fact, it looked like one of those fancy restaurants back in Heatherfield. "Mind telling me what this place is?"

"Before I left Earth, I basically bought every recipe book I could lay my hands on, and decided to make some profit. One of my colleagues from ANBU has a civilian background, his dad actually owns a rather famous restaurant, so I approached him with an offer to open a restaurant serving exotic foods. He agreed, so I was made part owner of it, while his family owned the rest."

They walked through the well lit doorways, to the reception table. The hostess quickly ushered them into one a private room. It had a fire-lit crystal chandelier hanging from the roof. There was a fireplace at the far end with a table for two at the centre of the room lit by candles. There was a bottle Cabernet on the table. "Wow, this is nice," Will whispered as they sat down.

Will skimmed through the menu and decided on the prime rib with red wine mushroom sauce, while Naruto ordered the filleted trout with mango salsa. The waiter poured each of them a glass of Cabernet and hurried out the door. "So, congratulations on your promotion."

"Thanks, you helped me a lot you know."

"Do you miss them?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"Who?"

"Your family and friends from Earth," Naruto looked at her. "Don't you miss them?"

"Well," Will absently sipped her glass, "I do miss them, a lot actually. But I think it'd be a little too late to go back now."

"Why is that?" Naruto looked confused.

Will placed a hand on his. "Because you're everything I'll ever want, and I couldn't ever make you leave this village."

Naruto looked at Will for a stunned moment, then smiled. "Thanks, Will," he took her hand and kissed it gently.

"Besides, new beginnings aren't always a bad thing."

Naruto smiled and raised his wine glass. "To new beginnings."

Will's glass met his in a soft clang. "To new beginnings."

**==The Next Morning==**

"WHY THE HELL NOT?" a familiar voice shouted from within the mission office as Team 7 approached it.

"Because you're not ready to take a C-rank," a firm, but feminine voice stated in response to the outburst.

Opening the door to the mission office, Team 7 was greeted by the sight of Kiba shouting at his sensei, while everyone else in the room looked at him as if he were a complete idiot.

Naruto cleared his throat slightly, gaining the attention of the Hokage. "Team 7 requesting C-Rank."

The Hokage nodded and looked into the pile. "Well let's see…how about this, a simple C-rank escort to the Land of Waves."

Naruto nodded. "We'll take it."

"WHAT! HOW THE HELL DO THEY GET A C-RANK AND WE DON'T?"

"Stop shouting, Kiba!" Sakura growled at him. She turned to Sasuke and became goggle-eyed. "Hi, Sasuke. You must be really awesome to be able to take a C-Rank."

Sasuke resisted the urge to groan, then shot his snickering teammates the Uchiha Death GlareTM. "Okay, children, settle down." Three glares turned towards their sensei. Naruto promptly ignored them. "Kurenai, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Kurenai's lips twitched. "Polite as ever, I see, Naruto. I'm fine, thank you for your concern. I see your team is coming along quite well, but are you sure they are able to handle C-Ranks, even if something were to go wrong?"

Naruto smirked. "Oh, believe me, they will. I've been putting them through the Namikaze-Uzumaki Training Regime From Hell."

Kurenai winced. She actually felt sorry for the three kids that had winded up as Naruto's genin team.

"Well, Team 10," the Hokage interrupted them, "we do have a supply of D-Ranks. Which one would you like?"

Kiba was about to interrupt when a glare from Kurenai shut him up. "We'll take the babysitting mission, thank you."

The Hokage handed them a scroll and Team 10 walked out, Kiba shooting glares at Team 7, especially the ridiculously young sensei.

The Hokage sighed. "Now that that's taken care of, Team 7, your mission is to escort the bridge builder, Tazuna, to the Land of Waves, then protect him for the duration of the project until its completion. Mission will be treated as a mid C-Rank. Now, send in the client."

An old man wearing small circular glasses, a conical straw hat and brown clothes entered the room, with a bottle of sake in one hand. "What? Is this some kind of joke? I hired ninja and instead I get a bunch of brats? They look like little school children. Especially the one with the duck-ass haircut."

Sasuke began to twitch while Naruto sighed. _'Oh, boy.'_

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Naruto's hand shot out and grabbed the boy's collar, hauling him into the air. "No, Sasuke," he said in chastising tone, "we do not kill the client."

"Tazuna," the Hokage said, "you're paying for a C-rank, not a B or an A-rank, but a C-rank, something these are more than capable of dealing with."

"I don't know," Tazuna grumbled.

"Tazuna," Naruto spoke up. "As the Hokage said, you are paying for a C-Ranked mission, which entails protection from bandits, something my team is perfectly capable of handling. And despite my appearances and age, I am an elite jōnin for a reason. You have no need to fear anything."

"Well, I suppose, you'll have to do," Tazuna grumbled.

"Excellent, we'll meet you at the gate in an hour," Naruto turned to his team. "Pack for about two months." In an undertone he said to them, "And bring your weapons. Something about this guy smells fishy."

**==Leaf Village West Gate – One Hour Later==**

"It will take us approximately three days to get to Wave," Naruto said to the team at the gates, "so if we want to make good time lets head out. I'll take point while Shikamaru and Sasuke flank him on either side. Hinata takes rear guard. Everyone ready? Then let's head out."

The group travelled for the first few hours in relative ease. There were no disturbances on their journey. However, after walking for a few miles, Naruto spotted a puddle on the edge of the road. 'Hmm, seems like we have trouble. Hopefully they notice it, too.'

It seemed that they did. Three pairs of eyes turned to Naruto who nodded slowly and gestured with his eyes down to his hand. All three genin looked to see their sensei signal, _'Reverse formation.'_ Hinata sped up, with the pretence of making conversation with Tazuna. Naruto casually fell back to the rear.

As soon as the team passed the puddle, a pair of cloaked nin wearing respirator masks raised up out of the puddle. They charged towards the four. "Get the bridge builder," one of the growled. Tazuna turned and let out a cry of alarm.

They had made it halfway, when a tri-pronged kunai impacted the middle of the chain, pinning them in position. A second later, Shikamaru was in front of the bridge builder in defensive position with a black ninjatō in front of him, while Sasuke and Hinata were charging. Sasuke had a longer-than average chokutō with a black handle. The blade was run through with lightning. Hinata had a pair of tantō with lavender handles with marching short tassels extending from the hilt. Wind chakra was running through the blades.

Sasuke aimed his chokutō in a downward cut, severing the chain. He spun upwards, ramming the blade upwards into the chin, killing him instantly.

"Brother!" the second one cried. He had no time to react as Hinata's tantō found their mark. One came down into the man's gauntlet hand, while the other travelled into the man's neck. He was dead before he knew it.

Naruto looked at the dead bodies. "Good work all of you. You did very well for your first real fight with shinobi."

All three nodded their thanks. While the genins cleaned their weapons, Naruto moved forward, and in one swift movement, decapitated the heads. He sealed them up into scrolls and burned their bodies with a low powered fire jutsu.

"Now then, Tazuna," Naruto turned his eyes to the bridge builder. The old man was pinned in place by the mesmerizing circular, faded blue pattern. "I believe you owe us an explanation. Why were two C-Ranked missing-nin targeting you on what was supposed to be a C-Ranked low risk escort mission?"

"I-I…" The bridge builder sighed, "fine then…there is a dangerous man after me…his name is Gatō."

"Gatō?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The shipping magnate?"

"Yes, the man is a powerful tycoon for sure. But below the surface, he is one of the big shots in the underworld, dealing through bribery, coercion and blackmailing. A little over a year ago, he came to the Land of Waves, using his wealth to take total control of our shipping industries. Anyone who was in his way was murdered. This is why he is threatened by me. I am the master bridge builder, and once the bridge is finished, it will connect us to the mainland and ultimately break his control."

"But that still doesn't explain why you hid the truth from us," Naruto looked at the bridge builder intently.

"Because of Gatō's control, the Land of Waves is a poor nation. Everyone has so little money, no one could afford a B-Ranked mission. This was all that I could pay for."

"I understand that," Naruto looked at him, "but the scope of the mission has changed completely. This is no longer within our control. This mission has most likely been escalated to an A-Rank. Not something fresh genin are made to handle."

"Well, I suppose you're in your rights to abandon me. It's just that I'll probably be assassinated, and my grandson will be at home wondering when his grandfather will come home. Oh, and my daughter will be cursing the ninja of the Leaf, blaming you t all for it, and live the rest of your life in sorrow. But, I guess all that is none of your concern."

All three genin sweat-dropped. Naruto however raised an eyebrow. "Well, that would be my concern. However, what's also my concern is the fact that if I were to send these three," Naruto gestured at his team. "On a mission that they are clearly not ready for, and one of them were to, say, oh, I don't know, die. How, pray tell, would I be able to explain it to their parents or family of the circumstances of their deaths?"

Tazuna opened and closed his mouth several times. Then hung his head, dejected.

"However," Naruto continued, "I cannot, in good conscious, abandon a country in need. Therefore, I will let my genin decide."

There was a moment of silence, before Hinata spoke up. "I think we should do it, sensei."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "we can't just leave innocent people to suffer."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, "but I'm with them."

Naruto nodded. "Very well, but a mission change will also need the approval of the Hokage, and, hopefully, more reinforcements. We'll camp just off the road while I send word to him. Hinata, find a good place to camp and set up. I want either you or Sasuke on watch at all times."

Hinata nodded. The three genins led the bridge builder into the forest while Naruto sat down and quickly drafted a message. When he was finished he took that scroll and sealed it into a larger scroll with the heads of the Demon Brothers. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and swiped it across his palm. "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a small blast of smoke. In front of Naruto was a small orange toad. "Yo, Naruto," it saluted. "What can I do for you?"

"Listen carefully, Gamamaru, I have an important mission for you." Naruto handed the toad the scroll. "Take this to the Hokage," he said. "He'll know what to do next."

**==Three Hours Later==**

All four of them were sitting at the campsite. Naruto was idly twirling a kunai when he sensed two familiar chakra signatures approaching. "Sensei." Hinata gripped her tantō. Apparently she had sensed it too. Shikamaru and Sasuke stiffened, both clutching their respective weapons.

A hand signal from Naruto told them both to stand down. Tazuna turned to see two figures leap out of the tree line. One was a young boy dressed in black armour, that looked like he was an ANBU. The second was a girl with short red hair who looked about sixteen, in a black coat, over what also appeared to be ANBU armour. He was surprised when the girl ran up to hug Naruto.

"Will! Good to see you," Naruto kissed her briefly, and turned to Itachi. "I'm guessing you two are our backup?"

Itachi nodded. "The Hokage got your message." He turned to Sasuke. "Nice job, Sasuke. The Hokage's awarding you and Hinata each a bounty for taking down the two C-Ranked missing-nin."

Sasuke flushed under the praise. "Big brother, why exactly are you here?"

Itachi grimaced. "I needed to get away. Mum's on a warpath, and it's that time of year, too. Even dad had to take a mission away from the village for fear of her wrath."

Sasuke and Naruto winced. Mikoto's violent mood swings were something to stay the hell away from. She wasn't ANBU Captain for nothing. "So, Will," Naruto looked at the girl still in his arms, "don't you have duties at T&I or something?"

"Oh, I did," Will nodded, "but things have been going pretty slow these days, so I was able to take some time off. Anko's handling my shifts for me."

"The Hokage has allowed the continuation of the mission," Itachi informed them, "the client will be billed later. Naruto will have overall command. Out of all of us, he is the most senior member."

Naruto nodded and began to fill both the ninjas in on the situation.

"Gatō you say?" Itachi said stroking his jaw. "Intelligence has reports of him setting up cartels all over the Elemental Nations."

"We can use this chance to stop him, then," Will said.

Naruto nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking."

**==That Night==**

Naruto sat by the camp fire idly twirling a kunai. "Couldn't sleep, Itachi?"

A shadow came over him as, Itachi moving to join him. "How the hell do you do that? I can never sneak up on you?"

Naruto chuckled. "Please, Itachi, I've been in the ANBU for as long as I could remember. Forgive me if my skills haven't gotten lax, and I'm guessing your thoughts are surrounding a certain purple haired, cat masked ANBU."

Itachi sighed, "Senpai, have you ever had this feeling that you've felt so strong you couldn't even get the words out?"

"Yeah once," Naruto said, completely straight-faced, "most beautiful sword I've ever seen. I was so speechless someone else bought it. Man, I swear old man Higurashi was laughing his ass off."

"Real funny, senpai" Itachi rolled his eyes.

Naruto laid a hand on her former student's shoulder. "My advice is to come clean. If it doesn't work out, then maybe she isn't the right one for you."

**==Ended==**

**That was it? Since if I continue to make new chapters, so PM me if you want adoptions?**


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